There was considerable confusion at the time of the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
And just how the couple managed to successfully keep his arrival private is revealed by Harry in his memoir Spare, which was re-released in paperback last month.
Since Meghan was a week past her due date in May 2019, the couple secretly visited the Portland Hospital to ‘make sure nothing’s wrong’, though they were well-prepared for Archie’s arrival.
‘We got into a nondescript people-carrier and crept away from Frogmore without alerting any of the journalists stationed at the gates,’ Harry writes.
Within two hours of the birth, the couple had returned to Frogmore Cottage without arousing any suspicion.
Their doctor decided it was time to induce labour, and Meghan was given a canister of laughing gas to help ease the process.
Meanwhile, Harry, who had ordered Nando’s via his bodyguards, took a hit from the gas meant for his wife.
‘I took several slow, penetrating hits. Meg, bouncing on a giant purple ball, a proven way of giving nature a push, laughed and rolled her eyes.
‘I took several more hits and now I was bouncing too,’ Harry reveals.
‘When her contractions began to quicken and deepen, a nurse came and tried to give some laughing gas to Meg. There was none left. The nurse looked at the tank, looked at me, and I could see the thought slowly dawning: Gracious, the husband’s had it all.’
Fortunately, the nurse saw the humour in the situation and replaced the canister for Meghan.
The duchess settled into the bath, immersing herself in the calming sounds of Deva Premal’s Sanskrit mantras, which had been remixed into hymns.
Harry set the ambiance by arranging electric candles – the same ones he had used during his proposal to Meghan – around the room.
Among the items in her overnight bag was a framed photograph of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
He noted in his memoir that this touching tribute was Meghan’s idea.
Despite Meghan’s efforts to breathe through the discomfort, the intensity became overwhelming and she ultimately had to receive two epidurals.
